West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | As Murshidabad debates infiltration, SIR, its beedi workers battle poverty, exploitation

Samserganj : As political leaders criss-cross Murshidabad promising to stop infiltration and restore names deleted during the SIR ahead of the West Bengal assembly polls, 12-year-old Ruksana Khatun sits cross-legged on the mud floor of her house in Suti, rolling tobacco into tendu leaves before leaving for school.

Beside the girl, her mother Rahima Bibi works at a frantic speed. A pile of nearly 600 beedis lies in a corner. They still have 400 more to make before noon. The child is not officially a worker. On paper, she is only helping her mother.

But in Murshidabad's sprawling beedi belt -- stretching across Suti, Samserganj, Dhuliyan, Jangipur and Lalgola -- thousands of children quietly help their families meet impossible daily targets, while local contractors who control the trade also wield enormous influence over village politics.

Nearly a quarter of the country's beedi workers are concentrated in Murshidabad, where the industry forms the backbone of the local economy.

"If she doesn't help me, we cannot finish a thousand. Then they cut our payment,” Rahima said. For every 1,000 beedis rolled, the family earns between Rs 160 and Rs 180.

Murshidabad, one of India's biggest beedi hubs, is home to nearly 25 lakh people linked to the trade. In villages around Jangipur, Lalgola, Aurangabad and Dhuliyan, almost every house doubles up as a workshop.

Women sit for hours in dimly-lit rooms with piles of tobacco around them. Children help them before and after school hours, and often instead of school.

"In Murshidabad's bidi belt, childhood ends when fingers of these minors become fast enough to roll tobacco. Many girls stop attending school after class 5 or 6. Some are married off, but many begin helping their mothers full-time," said a schoolteacher in Samserganj, requesting anonymity.

Workers said the local contractor or munshi decides everything -- whose bundle will be accepted, who will get an advance before Eid, who will receive a beedi worker's card and who will get provident fund or hospital benefits.

"If you anger him, work stops. And if work stops, how will we eat?" said Hasina Bibi.

Several workers accused the contractors of being closely linked to political leaders and using that influence during elections.

"During polls, they tell us which meeting to attend and which party to vote for. Nobody says it openly. But everyone understands. If you are seen with the wrong party, next week there may be no work,” alleged a woman in Jalangi.

The issue briefly erupted into the open in September 2025, when around 10,000 beedi workers from villages in Lalgola block launched a protest demanding higher wages.

Led largely by women, the agitation spread across Pathan Para, Bishwanathpur, Chama Para and Fakir Para. Their wages had remained stuck at Rs 165 per 1,000 beedis. After days of protests, the rate was raised to Rs 190.

Jamili Khatun, 58, of Lalgola, has been rolling beedis for 43 years. Even now, she has no provident fund account.

"We are exploited to the core. I earn around Rs 5,000 a month. There are 12 people in my family. My daughters and daughter-in-law also bind beedis, but our combined income is not enough." Doctors in Samserganj and Dhuliyan said women, who spend years rolling beedis, suffer from chronic cough, asthma, back pain and eye problems.

"Children exposed to tobacco dust from an early age also develop breathing problems," said a doctor at a rural health centre in Samserganj.

Because most women work from home rather than in factories, they remain outside labour laws and social security.

"The law bans the employment of children in hazardous occupations. But here, since the work happens inside houses, it is passed off as helping the family. The system survives because everyone benefits from pretending that child labour does not exist," said a member of All India Bidi Workers Federation (AIBWF) - Murshidabad unit, who did not wish to be named.

The ruling TMC rejected allegations that it protects the contractor network.

"The exploitation of beedi workers is the legacy of decades of Left rule. Our government has given Lakshmir Bhandar, ration and health insurance,” TMC MP Abu Taher said.

The BJP accused the TMC of using the beedi industry as a political machine.

"Most contractors and many company owners are close to the TMC. They exploit women, use children and then convert that dependence into votes," said BJP district president Gouri Shankar Ghosh.

Congress leaders said both the TMC and the BJP had ignored the plight of workers.

"The BJP and the TMC want to fight this election on the narrative of Hindu and Muslims. But the real issue is that lakhs of women are surviving on Rs 180 a day, children are dropping out of school," Congress leader Nazme Alam said.

As campaigning peaks, Murshidabad's beedi belt barely figures in speeches. Leaders talk of infiltration, NRC, religion and borders. But in the lanes of Samserganj and Lalgola, the real issues are lower wages, sickness, debt and children dropping out of school.

In Murshidabad, which will go to the polls on April 23, the battle may be over identity, but the deepest wound lies inside the beedi workers' homes. Here, survival depends not on the vote, but on the contractor who can give work -- or take it away.

The elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in two phases - on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4.